In the wake of the news.

Smith Still Has Time--with The Right Help

December 05, 1999|By Skip Bayless.

Only if Leon Smith is diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder will the following sentiment not apply.

I'm tired of hearing about "poor" Leon and how the Dallas Mavericks "mistreated" him. I'm tired of hearing what is sounding suspiciously like your basic pampered jock and overgrown brat. I'm tired of everyone being criticized for "poor" Leon's plight except the one person ultimately responsible for this 19-year-old man-child.

Leon Smith.

If Smith doesn't wise up and grow up fairly quickly, he'll blow a near-miraculous opportunity to make something of himself. That's why Smith needs no more pity, no more coddling from those trying to leech off his fame and fortune, which now could be fleeting. What Smith needs most is what he's least likely to get.

He needs a kick in the butt from somebody he respects. More tough love, less "you da man."

Failing that, his only hope is to hit bottom softly enough to be given a second NBA chance. Perhaps getting the hell scared out of him would scare some sense into him. The danger, of course, is that Leon Smith's story could have a tragic ending before it ever really has a beginning.

Yes, Smith was dealt an awful hand at birth, but many children are. Yes, his single mother abandoned him, but it could have been worse. He could have been abused. He could have been born in a city, state or country without a facility as well run as Sullivan House, a home Smith enjoyed so much he didn't want to leave.

And Leon Smith could have been born short and unathletic instead of very tall, strong, agile and fast. Smith was luckier still that Don Nelson, the ultimate Maverick, had been lured out of Maui retirement to become Dallas' coach/GM. The consensus among GMs was that Smith would go undrafted. But the try-anything "Nellie" decided to shock his colleagues and trade for the rights to a 6-foot-11-inch high-schooler from Chicago about whom Nelson knew very little.

Nelson further confounded the NBA by enticing San Antonio to take Smith with its first-round pick, then deal him to Dallas. First-rounders must be given three-year deals. Second-rounders get no guarantee.

But in an early workout with the Mavs, Smith openly defied Nelson's son Donnie, an assistant coach. Smith did so again at an L.A. summer-league game and was sent home. The elder Nelson can be a joy to play for if you win his respect, but he eventually concluded that Smith had so little respect for authority that he disrupted every team situation.

Bill Green, who runs Sullivan House, told the Dallas Morning News: "Leon has always been able to pick his own terms. He never fully understood the concept of team."

When Nelson tried to talk Smith into learning the game in the CBA or Europe--the kid obviously has an inflated opinion of his NBA readiness--his advisers argued that Smith would never be able to survive in a small town or foreign country. So what if Nelson hadn't drafted him? Smith's only hope would have been surviving in the CBA or Europe--or back on the Chicago streets.

Nelson said two of his assistants spent 80 percent of their time watching over Smith. What more could any draftee expect? High school stars can demand to be drafted, but they cannot expect special treatment.

Then the girlfriend whose name is tattooed on his arm broke up with him and he no doubt was overcome by his lifelong fear of abandonment. If only Smith had an authority figure he respected who could make him understand he'll eventually meet another girl who will make him wonder why he was so torn up over this one.

Smith reacted with what some who know him considered a half-hearted suicide attempt using aspirin--more a cry for attention. Then he allegedly threatened the girl and damaged her mother's new car.

No, this is sounding more and more like a kid so tall and athletic that he never had to play by the same rules other kids did. While Nelson now says Smith "needs serious help," some who know him insist Smith is "not crazy" and that he doesn't mess with drugs.

If he has a serious disorder, God bless him. If not, pity is the last thing he needs, self or otherwise.